Thursday, May 06, 2010

Hughes and Cry

Was it only yesterday that I wrote that things could be a lot worse for Hibs fans?

Might not feel like it just now.

I suppose being 6-2 up and losing 7-6 might be worse. At the moment that doesn't feel like much of a distinction. As crumbs of comfort go it's like being told that your lost lottery ticket would only have won you £3 million pounds rather than the £4 million you thought.

Nor would you find reassurance in the news that your team might have set a world record:

Motherwell came back from 6-2 down to draw 6-6 against Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League on Wednesday evening to equal the highest scoring draw in any top division in the history of world football.

As far as we can ascertain within a short time period, it appears to be highest scoring score in professional football history regardless of division, although we welcome extra information from around the world to the contrary. The game was the definitely the highest scoring game in SPL history.

The last time a 6-6 draw happened in the professional game was on Saturday 7 August 1999, when Genk – then the Champions of Belgium – opened their title defence in the 1999-2000 season with a 12-goal thriller against Westerlo. (via Sporting Intelligence)

Being told that you made headline news in Germany and Australia, that the result was a top UK trending topic on Twitter (knocking Spurs v Man City and even Brown v Cameron v Clegg into the also-ran category), that you reached the front page of bbc.co.uk. None of that is likely to provide a haven from the anguish.

In your search for some explanation you might think of turning to your manager, surely the most likely conduit for your feelings of grief.

Here's what John Hughes said:

It's mixed emotions. It's very disappointing, there is positives, though to come to this place and score six goals.

Remarkably upbeat that. But then Hughes is a man with a sunny disposition, more happy than sad. Half-wits often are.

And what light can this former centre half shed on Hibs' capitulation?

I felt at 6-2 up my strikers stopped working. That's where you start defending, from the front. We then started sitting too deep and inviting Motherwell onto us.

So there we have it. Three strikers score six goals between them. And that's still not enough.

There's a gulf between Hughes and the fans. Tonight widened it. I'm no longer sure how capable he is of bridging it.